The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-26
ADVENTURE WITH A LION.
Frank l. Frayne's Pet Has Very Lively
Outing.

| ouJlHS.
From, he Nctc York Times.
Frank l. Frayne, an actor, who, in his
PLAY of 'Mardo," rescues an all-important
document from the cage of big lion, to the
wonder and delight of the galleries, had a
narrow escape few days ago from furnish
ing meal for the animal The battle be-
tween the man and the lion took place at a
dreadfully questionable hour; its scene
| was an old barn, and there were no specta-
| tors, but it was marked and ended by as
clever bit of quick-witted work as ever
| lion tanner did for the delight of thousands.
| A twist of a rope around an iron bar settled
| the fight, and when Mr.. Frayne counted up
his losses he found it had cost him a valu-
able horse and lacerated arm to get his
unruly pet in its cage again
Not long ago Mr.. Frayne bought pleas
ant farmhouse three miles from Madison,
n. j., renovated the dwelling, and called it
echo Dell" He had a prosperous season
on the road and at its close few weeks ago
he removed his lion and other pets to his
| farm and settled down to enjoy country
ease An old fashioned, heavy-beamed barn
stood near the house, and one side of its
lower floor was turned into a menagerie.
The lion, which used to be called Duke
but is now known as Ingersoll, in compli-
ment to Col. Bob of that name, occupied a
/ big cage of iron and oak near the back Of
the barn. Between it and the door stood
three other cages, one tenanted by an intel
ligent laughing hyena dubbed Gabe, an
other by a striped hyena, Abe, and the
third by pair of innocent white rabbits.
Opposite the cages were the stalls for the
horses, and above were the old-time hay
lofts beloved by ancient barn builders. Two
bears, three fine dogs and three horses were
in the lot outside valuable horse of Nor.
gan stock was alone in the stalls, and the
Gagged animals seemed as nearly good ma
tured as usual when the doors of the barn
were barred on the evening of Sunday week.
Ingersoll dozed away peacefully till the
first light of morning awOke him. Then he
rose and lazily began to rub himself against
the barred door of his prison. The catches
at the bottom had not been made fast, as
usual, and the big animals motion pushed
open the door until there was plenty of room
to pass out. Ingersoll wanted breakfast,
and the horse was the handiest dainty: so
with one big roar that set the hyenas to
dong their prettiest in the way Of noise he
made a spring that carried him clear over
the 3-foot front of the stall and upon the
back of the horse, which went down like a
shot, and lay kicking and neighing franti-
cally on the boards with the lion tearing its
neck open with neatness and dispatch. The
din in the barn woke Mr. Frayne, who put
and ran out to the scene of action.
Once inside the barn he picked up a stout
rope that was lying on the floor, hastily
made moose at one end and threw it at
the lions head. At the same time he gave
a loud shout, and the big brute turned his
head just i'll time for the rope to settle
round his neck. Q Frayne and the lion both
jumped-Frayne back to the big cage and
the lion full at his master, but the actor had
iIlCt n N inst ct rtn I'm ny1ip
as thought he passed the end of the rope
that he still held around the first bar of the
grated door, and pulled with all his
strength. The lion was just in the act of
leaping, and his spring carried him to the
cage, and Frayne's rope pulled him into it.
Frayne slid forward the grating before the
lion could spring again, and the big animal
was Gagged. But F'rayne was close up to the
bars, and the lion struck him once with his
| fore paws, ripping open his arm.
So far everything had been done quickly,
| but it was an hour before the usual order of
| things was restored Mrs. Prayne and the
| other members of the family had been reused
by the tumult, and that hour was a very
anxious one for them, for until it was over
| none of them was permitted to enter the
barn and see how matters had gone.
,Frayne's hurt was not serious and he was
able to leave home on trip next day. The
| horse died from its wounds and was buried
and the hyenas were with difficulty per
suaded that life would go on as usual again
Last night Ingersoll lay in his cage and
showed visitors a fine set of teeth. Fred
Knight, his keeper, poked him up and the
lion moved lazily about his narrow quar-
ters. His short but exciting outing has left
him lame, but otherwise he seems in good
condition. He is ID years old and has the
reputation of having killed his man on two
occasions. SO quiet had Ingersoll's outbreak
been kept that the people in Madison had
heard only vague rumors of it last night.